Echo
by Sweet Executioner
Summary: Admiral Marcus sends a woman to help Khan and he also mentions that one of her ancestors was an augment he had once known. Since Amelia doesn't know about this, he has to find out if she has any of her ancestor's abilities or not. Pretending to be a friend isn't easy, but things change when he discovers one of her biggest secrets. / Khan/OC
1. Guide

**(0) Guide**

* * *

John Harrison.

A new identity, a new time, a new situation, a new life; everything felt alien for him at the moment but he would obviously adapt to it soon. But there was one thing he was sure about: he wanted to protect his own people. If it took him to help Admiral Marcus for some time, he would do it without objection.

He now lived in a spacious apartment in London, the wall-sized window giving him a perfect view at the city he didn't recognize anymore. Was it really the same place he had once known? It probably wasn't. Since he had nothing else to do until the admiral called him, Khan decided to use the punch bag he had in one of the rooms, hoping it would clear his mind enough to come up with a plan.

Taking off his plain black Starfleet shirt, he walked into the room, throwing the piece of clothing into a corner and picking up the white bandage from a nearby table before quickly wrapping it around his hands. He hated this; he hated waiting and just sitting around. Over and over again he punched the bag as hard as he could, going on without stopping even for a second. Then came a ringing sound from the door but he ignored it.

But the visitor didn't give up and eventually Khan had no other choice but to stop and go to see who it was. After the front door slid open he found a young woman standing there, her eyebrows raised as her gaze ran up and down his bare torso. She didn't say anything, only gulped with her hands behind her back. Her hesitation and decision to remain silent annoyed him, right until the point when he couldn't fight it back anymore.

"Who are you?" he barked.

The woman's grey eyes finally raised to look into his eyes. "My name is Amelia Stark," she replied calmly, her hands still folded behind her back. "I thought Admiral Marcus had already informed you about my arrival."

"It seems like he forgot." Before going on with the conversation he stepped aside and let the woman in. There was no need for the neighbor to overhear the conversation. Once they reached the living room and the brunette sat on the couch, he asked, "And why are you here exactly?"

"He told me who you are and that he wants you to learn everything you had missed in the last few hundred years."

Khan sat on one of the armchairs to unwrap the bandage while he kept watching her. Amelia's voice was calm but her body language gave away her nervousness. She didn't stay for long. They agreed she would come back the next day to start his rehabilitation but Khan still couldn't understand why Marcus wanted her to help him. His mind, his intelligence was superior to average humans' therefore all he needed was a computer and full access to every single database he wanted to see. Why sending there a human to teach and help him when he obviously didn't need it? It didn't make sense.

After she left, Khan logged into the system Marcus had given him access to the moment he moved in and found a recent message from the admiral. It was a file about Amelia Stark, including her family tree. A family tree that went back a few hundred years, revealing a familiar name on the top: a fellow Augment he had once known.

* * *

**Author's note:** Hi there. Don't even ask why I wrote this because I don't know. Seriously. But I have plans for the future, even if this prologue kind of chapter was extremely short.

_Sweet Executioner_


	2. Honestly

**Author's note: **Thank you all for leaving reviews (sorry, I'm way too lazy to answer them), putting the story on the favorite and alert lists. It means a lot, guys!

* * *

**(1) Honestly**

* * *

"Are you seriously planning to wear a Starfleet uniform today?"

That was Amelia's first sentence as she entered the apartment and looked at him. Khan didn't understand her problem since he had nothing else to wear, but after all he had found out the day before, he wanted to play nice and try to be friendly with her. He needed information because there had to be a reason why Marcus chose her from all people, so he flashed a charming smile at her and watched her putting a big paper bag on the kitchen counter.

Putting his hands in the pockets of his trousers, Khan stepped closer to her, amused to see the woman instinctively taking a step back. She was afraid, he could tell it from the way her chest rose and fell quicker than before and her eyes widened for a second. "I don't have civilian clothes," he replied simply.

The corners of her soft, pink lips suddenly turned into an almost arrogant smile. "Well, then it's a good thing I didn't forget to bring you some," she purred, pushing the paper bag closer to him. "Put them on and let's get the hell out of here."

As Khan reached for the bag he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her. It seemed like as if for a nanosecond she had let a mask slip, revealing her true self. But it couldn't be. She was afraid, terrified, he knew it, all the signs, all his instincts told him that. Something wasn't right about her and he couldn't find out what because now she seemed shy again, nervously tapping her fingers on the counter top. Without saying anything he turned around and went to the bedroom.

Once the door closed behind him he let the content of the bag fall on the bed, but before taking a closer look at them, Khan took off his uniform and sat down. Honestly, he was glad to get rid of them for a while, mainly because this uniform kept reminding him of Marcus and the way he used his fellow augments to control him. So much for his superior intelligence, though he believed it was only the effect of that approximately three hundred years he had spent in cryostasis.

He chose a plain, long-sleeved white shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans to wear that day, surprised to see they fit him perfectly. Khan stood in front of the mirror in one of the corners, looking at himself as he put on a fake smile he would use in the next couple of hours to gain Amelia's trust. Some might have described her as pretty, with her lean body and piercing grey eyes, not to mention her slightly tanned skin, but he couldn't think about her that way.

To him, she was nothing more but a question mark, a mysterious entity.

Grabbing a leather jacket on his way out, Khan returned to the living room where Amelia was already waiting for him with her red coat in hand. She visibly gulped at his sight before her eyes turned away, looking out of the window. "And where are we going?" he asked the woman after he got her to move and they stepped out to the hallway. She shrugged but remained silent, even when the elevator's door opened. "I'm not exactly fond of surprises."

"Oh, is that so?" she asked weakly.

"You know who I am," Khan started, his voice ice cold as he stopped the elevator and took a step closer to her. Amelia's back bumped into a wall and when he glanced down at her he noticed how small and fragile she looked now. "I bet you read whatever file Admiral Marcus has about me, therefore I'm sure you're aware it would be easier for you if you answered all my questions right away. You're afraid of me, Amelia, I can see that, but if you behave, if you don't do anything that would enrage me, I won't hurt you."

Her lips parted as she tried to reply, to say anything in response, but in the end she remained silent. For a second he even felt bad for her but then he remembered the augment whose descendant she was according to Marcus. If that was true she deserved no compassion. They had all believed their genes were perfect but three hundred years and average human DNA was enough to erase everything, turning every single offspring weaker and weaker as years passed.

Just when Khan turned his back to her to start the elevator again, she spoke up, her voice trembling just as her body was. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to annoy you. I thought we should start the first day with taking a walk around London so you can get used to this new environment," she explained, getting more comfortable once they stepped out of the building, walking down the street among many other people. "Then we'll visit a few museums, unless you have something else in mind."

"That sounds good," Khan lied, earning a surprised look from her. "I'm sorry if I scared you back in the lift," he went on.

"You don't mean it," she stated after a few seconds. "But it's okay, fake apology accepted."

The next minutes passed in complete silence but Khan knew he had to break it if he wanted to gain her trust soon. "And what do you do when you're not here to help me?"

Amelia let out a sigh and put her hands into the pocket of her coat. There was something about her reaction that alarmed him, reminded him of the way she had told him he wasn't really sorry. "I'm a child psychologist, working with the children of those who work for Starfleet. I usually deal with the kids who lost their parents but obviously there are other serious cases as well."

"Marcus sent a child psychologist to help me?" he asked with a frown.

"I know, it doesn't make sense," Amelia replied honestly.

It was obvious she didn't trust him and that's why Khan decided to change his strategy. Smiling, trying to be nice and friends wouldn't work on her so honesty was the next possible method he wanted to try. He could just wait until they were alone somewhere and ask her right away about her family tree. Of course, in this case, he would have to tell her how Marcus was using her.

"And to be honest, I have no idea why Admiral Marcus wanted me from all people to come here. I mean, I live in San Francisco and this is London. I don't even know this place," she exclaimed in an annoyed tone, stopping short and looking up at Khan. "Sorry, I'm talking way too much," Amelia added with a sigh.

"There's one thing you should know," he spoke up as they started walking again. "From what I've learned since Admiral Marcus and his team woke me up is that he doesn't do anything without an ulterior motive. I'm sure he had a good reason to send you here."

Amelia thought for a second, biting her lower lip over and over again, before saying, "You know this reason, don't you?" She wasn't demanding, only curious.

Khan nodded without hesitation. There was no reason for him to keep lying, though telling the entire truth was out of the question for now. The more he kept to himself the longer she wanted to stay around; unless Marcus was planning to call her back to San Francisco just before he could find out what he wanted. He thought she would keep talking but Amelia remained silent for the rest of their walk.

He appreciated it, the absence of pointless chatter. This way he could focus on his environment, the passers-by and the grandiose grey buildings, everything that he despised. Maybe humans were technologically advanced now, believing they were more civilized, believing in peace and a world without groundless wars, yet he knew very well it was nothing more but an illusion. After all Marcus, the man who was an admiral of Starfleet, was working on a way to start a war against the Klingons.

* * *

Memorable buildings, museums and by the end of the day Amelia was ready to raise her hands and turn on her heels to leave Khan wherever they were at the moment. After a while he became almost terrifyingly cold, knowing everything better than her, showing off his famous superior intelligence whenever he found a chance to do it. If she could only shout at him without consequences, just tell him to shut up, even for a few seconds.

But for now she had to stay under the radar. If she could believe Marcus it wouldn't take more than a couple of days then she would be on the way back home. Khan was smart, Amelia was well aware of that, and if she had tried anything, he would eventually figure it out. No, it wasn't worth the risk. All those years she had spent without being busted, the way she could fool everyone, her parents included, amused even her.

Amelia walked over to the window of her hotel room, looking down at the dark and still crowded street. It was so hard to resist that primal urge she had, the little voice in the back of her head, telling her to grab her coat and go for a walk. There was obviously something dark and dangerous about Marcus, maybe he would get her out of trouble if she got caught. But would she be caught? Probably she wouldn't.

Suddenly her communicator went off and she slowly walked over to the coffee table where she had left it, putting it on speaker right away. "Dr. Stark," she said coldly, folding her hands over her chest.

"Hey, Doc, it's Chrissy," came a young female voice from the other end of the line. "I'm sorry, I know it's probably quite late in London, but I just had to tell you something."

"No problem, Chrissy," Amelia replied kindly. Even though her voice changed, her features remained cold and serious as she paced back and forth behind the couch. "So what is it?"

"Mom called me like an hour ago and... and it seems like my brother won't make it," she said, already crying when the last words left her mouth.

Amelia remained silent as she glanced up at the ceiling then turned to the small screen on the wall with the flashing text about an incoming message. "I'm so sorry to hear that, Chrissy. My colleagues can help you while I'm out of office, okay?" she asked in her good doctor voice while opening the message.

The girl finished the conversation within seconds, finally giving Amelia back her well-deserved vacation. She hated those whining little brats, every single one of them. Slowly shaking her head, she read the message that had come from Khan. By tomorrow morning he would know the most important happenings of the last three centuries therefore she would have to come up with something else to do. Preferably something more interesting than museums, otherwise it would be him to make this decision.

"Thank God," she said out loud, hoping his plans would be far more interesting than sightseeing.

* * *

**Author's note:** I know Khan might be a little OOC now, but it won't stay like that. Everything will change in the next chapter and maybe he'll find out the truth about Amelia. What do you think about the story so far?

_Sweet Executioner_


	3. Playthings

**(2) Playthings**

* * *

Quite early in the afternoon Amelia finally showed up, a big cup of coffee in her hand that, combined with the black high-heels, the blue dress and the elegant black blazer, gave her a businesswoman look. For a second Khan wondered if that was how she usually dressed while working with her patients but quickly got rid of these irrelevant thoughts. They agreed to have lunch together and she was late; not like that mattered since he wasn't that hungry.

The woman finally reached him and threw the empty paper cup in the closest bin before stopping in front of him, looking up at him with raised eyebrows. "Good afternoon, doctor," he said, only to see if a greeting was what she had been waiting for. Amelia laughed at this, rolling her eyes as they started towards the restaurant she had chosen. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Nothing," she replied cheerfully. "But I'm not used to being called "doctor" by adults. Adults who aren't my patents' parents," she corrected herself before also adding, "And the kids usually call me "doc" so it's kinda weird." She was starting to talk too much again but he didn't make any comments about it. "But good afternoon, _John_," she said, emphasizing his new name since they were in public.

Khan had talked to Marcus about the entire rehabilitation idea and he agreed to forget about it. There was no need for him to waste his time for something that useless, though he asked the admiral to let Amelia stay for a while, just in case. Just when they reached the door of the restaurant, Khan put his hand on the small of her back and led her ahead so she could enter first. It seemed natural, something society possibly wanted him to do, just to make it obvious he loved her. Because normal humans were thinking this way; whenever they saw a woman and a man together, their first thought was possibly about the two of them being together.

He saw the way people looked at him, mainly women, but he also noticed the jealous glances men shot at him. The reasons were purely evolutional - he was tall, muscular, considered handsome, and surely every single sign told them he was superior to most people. Soon a young waitress walked up to them, flashing a flirtatious smile at him, not even bothering to look at Amelia who was speaking to her. Glancing down he noticed how the muscles of the young psychologist's back tensed at this and he slowly put an arm around her waist and pulled her against his chest.

Amelia played along and the waitress immediately cleared her throat before leading them to a table. Once she disappeared, he looked over at the woman across from him. "She was pathetic," he stated, answering a question she hadn't even asked. "And you were talking but she didn't listen to you."

"Well, thank you," she said quietly. "I wasn't expecting this from you."

Throughout the lunch he asked her about Starfleet, about what it was like to be working for an organization like this. He knew its history but reality was always different and he was going to step into this world. Amelia spoke but he didn't interrupt her, just listened to the stories from the time Vulcan had been attacked by that Romulan ship. That attack was the one that had triggered Marcus' plan to get ready for a war with the Klingons. She believed the admiral was becoming delusional and paranoid but there was nothing she could do but playing along.

And this is exactly what he had been expecting from the next months as well. Designing weapons and a ship that would easily destroy Klingon ships during the future war.

Later, when they were walking towards the hotel she was staying in, Amelia suddenly stopped in the middle of an empty square and turned to him with a serious expression on her face. Something was wrong, something had changed in her but he had no idea what it was. He hadn't done or said anything that could have caused this.

"Your file mentioned your past, what happened here on Earth three hundred years ago, and your profile confirmed my previous assumptions. You are hyper-rational, intelligent, strong, arrogant, but you care about your crew. Sorry, your family," she corrected herself with a smile. "This is why I found it more than suspicious how you tried to be... let's say nice to me. You want something, don't you?"

Khan found it almost amusing. Not how she had seen through his little act, but how cold she sounded now. As the corner of his mouth curled into a small, almost proud smile, he folded his hands behind his back and started to walk around her in a circle. "Everybody wants something, Amelia," he started darkly, his blue eyes taking in every single inch of her body as he spoke. "I want to protect my family, and there's _nothing_ I wouldn't do to keep them safe."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. There was no sign of fear, the only things he saw was impatience, as if she was waiting for the conversation to be over. Khan stopped in front of her, looking down at the fragile woman who still kept her eyes closed.

"The only question is," he spoke up quietly, "why did you stop playing your role now?"

"Boredom," Amelia replied without hesitation, her grey eyes now fixed on him. "Also, you weren't honest to me, just as, obviously, I wasn't honest to you. So I thought, why not giving ourselves the chance of a fresh start since you don't seem to need my help?"

He nodded. "That sounds fair."

"Good. Then you should start with being honest and tell me what you want from me."

Being honest; of course that's what she wanted from him. Maybe he should start with Marcus, the fact it was him who wanted something, but she probably wouldn't believe it. Even if it was partly true since the admiral only used her to keep him around. So he made his final decision and said, "I won't. Not now that is," he added.

Amelia didn't seem to be offended by his answer. She even flashed a charming smile at him while slowly taking a few steps backwards. "Alright, I'll give you as much time as you want. Contact me when you made up your mind," she said before she turned around and started to walk away from him.

Khan couldn't believe it. All his life people had been afraid of him, he could control them without hurting them but she wasn't afraid anymore. "Where do you think you're going now?" he asked anyway, hoping she would change her mind on her own free will. She stopped, stayed still for a few seconds before turning around and tilting her head to the side. "I haven't finished this conversation."

"I have plans, Khan," she said with a shrug. "You're not exactly important to me, you better remember that."

This time he didn't stop her but he wasn't about to let it go just yet. Instead he waited until she was far enough then followed her, walking on the other side of the street, keeping a safe distance in case she looked around at some point. She walked for about an hour and during that time darkness had fallen on the city. But then she slowed down and after taking a careful look around, she walked into an alley.

He stopped behind the corner of the building and watched Amelia as she walked up to a young man, instantly grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him close. The man placed his hands on the small of her back and leaned down to kissed her. Khan furrowed his brows at the sight. A lover? But why did she meet him in an alley?

Then she pulled away, smiling up at the man. She spoke softly and quietly but he could hear every single word. The man had a wife; she was talking about her, how bad their relationship felt sometimes. And then, just as he made up his mind to leave, Khan heard something truly intriguing.

"Maybe we should do something about this. She has the right to know, David," she started. "You've been cheating on her for so long."

The man, David as she had called him, ran a hand through his hair. "And what do you think I should do? Go home, say hi then saying "sorry, baby, but I've been sleeping with another women"?"

Amelia shook her head in response. "Did you bring your gun as I told you yesterday?" David reached to the back of his jeans and pulled out the weapon. "Good boy. You know what to do now," she stated with a devious smile on her lips. He nodded and slowly raised the gun to his mouth. "It was nice to play with you, David."

When she turned around, he stepped out of the shadows, revealing himself to her. Amelia smiled at him as she stopped in front of him. Khan looked over her head, right at the man who, within seconds, pulled the trigger. The next thing he knew was her grabbing his hand and pulling him down the street. He let her lead him wherever she was heading to, and as they navigated through the crowd his mind wandered.

Amelia's small hand was so warm and soft.

Khan quickly shook his head at this thought. It was irrelevant. The only thing he should care about was what had happened back in the alley. That triumphant smile she flashed at him when David killed himself - he knew it well enough. There was no question about what she was anymore.

They stopped in a nearby park and she let go of his hand. Khan stayed still, eyeing her suspiciously as she took a couple of steps back, trying to catch her breath. "Out with it," she told him happily. "I can see your mind racing, so go on."

"What happened back there?"

Amelia let out a humming sound, pride showing on her features. "I wanted him dead. It's less messy if you make them kill themselves," she explained casually while leaning her back against a tree.

"Them?"

"Of course, he wasn't the first one," she replied with a small shrug.

She was talking about killing people so lightly as if it was perfectly normal for a woman her age to do something like this. For her it seemed to be nothing more but a hobby and somehow he liked it about her. "You said you made them do it. How?" he asked.

Amelia, once again, smiled at him. "Perks of having an alien among your ancestors," she replied. "Except she would have never used her abilities for a wrong cause," she added with a small laugh, examining her nails.

An alien. If she was also the descendant of an augment, it could make her much more interesting to him. "What kind of alien?" he asked, even though he knew the name probably wouldn't tell him anything at this point.

"Herkaanian," came her answer. "They can control other creatures but they only use their abilities to help people. My grandmother married a human and her powers possibly skipped a generation. But something must have gone wrong because I'm nothing like her."

"You enjoy killing people."

Amelia nodded. "Exactly."

He smiled at her. It was possibly the first genuine smile in quite a long time but this statement deserved it. Now all he had to find out if she really was an augment, even if it was only an almost insignificantly small part of her. Taking a step closer, Khan observed her eyes, the way she swept a strand of hair behind her ears. He took another step. Her pink lips seemed so full and soft that he wanted to see if he was right, if they really tasted like strawberries.

This wasn't him. These thoughts came out of nowhere, as if someone was pulling him close to her, whispering every single word into his ears. Of course she was attractive, he didn't deny it, but kissing her? No, it wasn't among his plans.

"It was you, wasn't it?" Khan asked her in a dangerously low voice. She innocently tilted her head to the side. "You were the one who wanted me to kiss you, not me."

"I just wanted to see if I could use it on your superior mind," she admitted with a shrug. "It seems like you really are stronger, but not completely immune. Now, Khan, you know one of my biggest secrets so will you finally answer my question?"

After thinking about this for a few seconds, Khan nodded. "Alright, but not here," he said. "Let's go back to my flat."

* * *

**Author's note:** Thank you for the reviews, favs, alerts and everything.

_Sweet Executioner_


	4. Trap

**(3) Trap**

* * *

"I'm all ears," Amelia stated as she sat on the couch.

Khan looked down at her, meeting her expectant gaze as he was pacing back and forth in front of her. What he needed at that very moment was a beginning. How could he even start talking about the admiral's real intentions? But then he sat down in the armchair across from her, his eyes locked with hers as he started talking.

"Admiral Marcus is using you as another bargaining chip," he began slowly. "He knows exactly how important my crew is to me, so when he found you, it was only natural for him to send you my way."

Amelia slightly frowned at this, but kept silent.

"One of your ancestors was someone I knew a long time ago. Unlike the rest of us he had a son and, since no one really seemed to care about his existence during our war against each other, he lived here in relative peace. You're the only remaining descendant of his, Amelia," he finished with a sigh.

Minutes had passed in silence while the young woman stood up and walked to the huge window and looked down at London with her back to him. "Three centuries have passed," she started quietly. "I believe it's enough time for his DNA to disappear almost entirely. Well, for the superior part that is."

"Maybe," Khan admitted with a nod. "But maybe I can bring it back, reviving the dormant genes with my blood."

It was true, there was a chance he could do that with success. They were literally designed to be superior, to be survivors therefore their genes must be the same. Her body tensed, then he saw her taking a deep breath without moving or talking. He didn't know what was going through her mind during those long seconds; humans were easy to understand, but her mind worked in a different way, maybe she even had a couple of their traits.

Soon she turned around, her grey eyes watching him with interest, her eyebrows slightly raised in surprise. "What, you're suggesting blood transfusion now?" she asked.

"This is the only way I can find out if you're anything like us."

"You," Amelia pointed out. "It's all about you, isn't it?"

Khan replied with a nonchalant wave of his hand before saying, "I'm doing this for you as well."

"As interested as I am," the young woman started as she walked back to the couch and sat back to her previous place, "I'll say no."

"Marcus won't let you leave."

"Trust me, darling, I'll take care of that," she assured him with an arrogant smile that, for a moment, reminded him of her ancestor. "His plans won't stop me. If it comes down to this, I'll make him change his mind."

"I knew there was something wrong with you. It was all a lie - making me believe you were afraid of me, while, in reality, it was quite the opposite. So, why don't you want to stay here with me? If my blood helps you, you'll be stronger, smarter and, maybe, your other... talent will improve as well."

This finally caught her attention and her grey eyes fell on him once again. But what she said was nothing like what he had expected to hear. "Talent? This is what you call it? You're wrong, it's genetics."

"Just as what you could be, Amelia," he replied, hoping she would finally understand what he wanted.

Eventually she shrugged. "Of course," she said. "Too bad I don't have that much time to waste here."

_Time to waste_. How intriguing this term can be when it comes down to a unique situation like this one. Yet she found it a waste of time, she wanted to go back to the United States and continue her normal, possibly utterly boring job. Without realizing what he was doing, Khan ran his palms up and down his thighs as if he was nervous. Of course he was perfectly calm, it was nothing more but annoyance.

"Your patients?" he finally asked, interested in what might had been so important for her to give up an opportunity like the one he was offering her.

"My boyfriend."

At first silence, then, "Another victim?"

"Whether you believe it or not, I'm not a psychopath, I have emotions. Killing people is simply a hobby, Khan."

"Quite a unique hobby if you ask me," he asked with an almost invisible smile on his lips. The way she made that statement seemed so sweet, as if she was talking about shopping, or other usual female hobbies. But she was a murderer, even if she hadn't gotten her hands dirty, only made her victims kill themselves.

After all, he could even find this attractive in her.

"It's a good thing I'm not asking you."

"How long will you stay here?"

"Only for another couple of days," Amelia replied quietly as she took a look at her watch.

He nodded. "That's enough. If I'm right, only one dose will prove it."

"And what would you do if I said no? Honestly, I prefer the version of this story where everything stays the same."

"You wouldn't say no," Khan told her seriously.

"Watch me, darling."

Amelia gave him a small smile as she stood up and headed towards the door. At first, Khan didn't move. There was no need to hurry since his legs were longer therefore he would easily catch up with her. In the end she didn't have the chance to reach the door.

* * *

She was human after all.

A little bit of sedative gave Khan more than enough time to work in peace and silence. The first thing he needed was a blood sample from her so he could compare the one taken before and after the transfusion. After carefully putting it away, he walked back to her, checking the wide straps that were supposed to keep her still once she woke up, tying her to the bed by her wrists and ankles.

Amelia looked surprisingly peaceful, even fragile while sleeping and, if he hadn't seen it himself, he definitely wouldn't believe that this woman killed other humans for fun. He ran his fingers down the side of her pale face, remembering what had happened in that park only a couple of hours before. There was something about her he didn't understand, something that drew him to this woman on a primal level.

Maybe it was only the effect of her powers but it didn't make him feel any better about it. He wanted to know if he was right, but success meant her powers might turn out to be strong enough to make them repeat history, starting a war against each other for power and control. Shaking his head, Khan returned to his job, getting ready to give her his own blood.

A few hours later he was sitting on a chair next to her bed, his hands resting on his knees as he was watching Amelia. She was slowly waking up, her eyes opening for seconds before closing again, but a few minutes later she eventually kept them open and glanced up at him with a tired look on her face. Khan turned his head to see her vital signs on the closest screen; everything seemed perfect.

"How are you?" he asked as he stood up and looked down at her with his hand resting on the bed beside her head.

"You kept me here without my permission, you son of a bitch," she told him hoarsely but angrily. "What do you think?"

"I'll take it as a _fine_ then. I won't let you go. If you want to get out of this bed," he started slowly, "find a way to do it."

"What? Let me go!" Amelia screamed angrily, but he left the room.

Khan hoped it wouldn't take her much time to figure out what to do, but until then he decided to go through a few confidential files he had downloaded from the system of Starfleet Archive. He wasn't looking for anything in particular, but the more he read, the more he knew about what he was dealing with.

Another hour had passed in silence before he heard the door open with a quiet hiss. _So Amelia finally found a way out_, he thought, his eyes turning towards the young woman. Deep inside he was proud of her, proud of himself for finding a way to turn her into this, but there was something else, a familiar feeling he couldn't place. The last time he had felt this way...

...she had been messing with his head.

Amelia crossed her arms over her chest, her narrowed eyes watching as he stood up and leaned his hips against the desk. He couldn't tell if she was angry at him, or if it was the same predatory look her victims saw in her eyes in their last minutes. It went like this for a while, the two of them staring at each other without talking or moving.

Then she walked closer to him, her eyes looking up at him with disinterest. "I think I told you loud and clear that I don't want to be your lab rat," she said, her voice almost dangerously low. "Whatever sick plan you have in your mind, forget it, because I'm leaving anyway."

He laughed.

She looked confused.

Khan was far from being stupid, he knew well enough she wouldn't magically give up her plan to go home, therefore he needed something to convince her. There was one thing he could think of, the very same feeling she had tried to plant in his mind: lust. Because back in the park he had wanted her; it was her fault, of course, but he still wanted to own her in every way it was possible.

It was easier than locking her up and keeping her in London against her own free will.

"Do you seriously believe I'm doing this because I want to turn you into some kind of a lab rat?"

"What other reason could you possibly have, Khan?" she asked quietly.

There was one apart from the experiment. "You are hopefully one of us now. I want to protect those Marcus keeps hostage to control me, but I also want our kind to live among average human beings while our numbers grow."

Amelia raised an eyebrow. "And what do I have to do with any of this?"

"You still don't understand? If Marcus kills them, it's over. But with you and me-"

"Whoa," she interrupted him angrily, raising her hands in defense. "I hope you're not talking about what I think you're talking about. Because if you are," Amelia started, "it's disgusting."

Before he answered, Khan ran his fingertips down her spine, satisfied to feel her body reacting to his touch. "Would it really be that disgusting?" he asked with a smirk. "Wasn't it what you wanted only a couple of hours ago?"

The woman closed her eyes, taking deep breath and letting them out slowly. He didn't rush her, they had time to finish this conversation properly, and in the end she seemed to give up as she hesitantly put her palms on his chest and leaned even closer. It was way too easy, but there was one thing he had to hear her say, so he put his forefinger under her chin and made her look up at him.

"So, will you stay here?"

* * *

**Author's note:** I'm so sorry, but even though I was flattered to read the notifications I had (and actually still have) a terrible writer's block when it comes to my fanfics. Anyway, I hope it doesn't suck :)

Sweet Executioner


End file.
